A known vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device moves a roof, which is provided above a compartment, backward and automatically stores the moved roof within a luggage space provided at a rear portion of the vehicle. Thus, the roof of the vehicle is automatically opened by means of the vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device.
According to such vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device, when the vehicle includes a large roof, the roof is divided into two panels, a first roof panel and a second roof panel, and the first roof panel is provided at a front portion of the roof, and the second roof panel is provided at a rear portion of the roof. Such roofs are to be stored within the luggage space of the vehicle in a manner where the first roof panel is moved so as to overlap the second roof panel, and then the first roof panel and the second roof panel are moved so as to be stored within the luggage space. In this configuration, the roof panels may occupy a small area in the luggage space, and the other area of the luggage space may be effectively used.
According to the known vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device having the above mentioned configuration, each roof panel is positioned above the compartment so as to close the compartment at the same height so that an outer surface of the roof is formed evenly by the roof panels. Thus, when the first roof is moved so as to overlap the second roof, firstly the first roof panel needs to be uplifted so as to be higher than the second roof panel, and then the first roof panel being higher than the second roof panel is moved so as to overlap the second roof. In order to uplift the front roof panel, the vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device has link mechanisms.
The known vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device further includes guiding rails and sliding members. The guiding rails are attached to the front roof panel at the side of the compartment so as to extend in a front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the sliding members are attached to the link mechanisms. In this configuration, the front roof panel is attached to the link mechanism in a manner where the sliding members attached to the link mechanism engages the guiding rail so as to be slidable.
In this configuration, the front roof panel is guided by the guiding rails so as to move and overlap the rear roof panel. Thus, the known vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device includes a retracting mechanism comprised of a combination of the link mechanism and the guiding rail, and such device has been disclosed in JP2002-103981A.
According to such vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device disclosed in JP2002-103981A having the retracting mechanism, in which each sliding member slides within each guiding rail, an appropriate clearance needs to be provided between the guiding rail and the sliding member in order to obtain a smooth actuation thereof, however, such clearance may cause vibrations while the vehicle is traveling, and such vibrations may further cause noises. Because the roof is positioned just above of the passenger's head, even when the noise level is low, the passenger may be annoyed by the nose. To avoid this situation, these components need to be formed with high dimensional accuracy so that little clearance is provided between the each guiding rail and sliding member, or an additional member such as a shock absorber needs to be provided between the guiding rail and the sliding member in order to absorb the noise. In those cases, the production costs would be increased.
Further, an actuating device for actuating the retracting mechanism is attached to the front roof panel. Because the size of the actuating device including an electric motor is relatively large, such actuating device occupies a lot space within the roof, as a result, design flexibility of the vehicle may be limited.
Furthermore, electric power is supplied to the electric motor through a wire, and such wire needs to be distributed from a rear portion of the vehicle to the front roof panel. Thus, a long wire needs to be used so that a structure of the vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device becomes further complex, and production costs thereof may be increased.
In the light of the above inconveniences, a need exists to provide an inexpensive vehicle roof automatic opening/closing device in which a front roof panel is moved so as to overlap a rear roof panel smoothly and quietly, and production costs of such device is reduced.